E F F E C T I V E • E F F I C I E N T • A D A P T I V E • C O L L A B O R AT I V E

Toxics contamination is considered one of the most serious and challenging problems facing the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program.

Contaminants such as mercury, PCBs, dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons made their way into the estuary years ago, accumulating and settling

in estuarine sediments.

Despite some progress made to clean past contamination and reduce or prevent more deposits, contaminants still enter the estuary via a variety of sources

such as erosion of historically contaminated sediments, combined sewer overflows, atmospheric deposition, and tributary runoff. Scientists are still studying the full range of

contaminant effects to the ecosystem; however, sediment toxicity and impaired benthic community structure are apparent and persistent problems.

CONTAMINANT REDUCTION

Reducing point and non-point

sources of contaminants enter-

ing the harbor is one of many

goals HEP has defined in its ac-

tion plan to address contami-

nated sediment. Multi-partner

efforts are taking place to help

reduce toxicity levels in new

sediment deposits as well as

finding ways port operators can

safely dredge and reuse sedi-

ment. In a similar vein, HEP is

taking a lead role in developing

Total Maximum Daily Loads

(TMDLs) for toxics in the harbor.

Of particular focus and concern

are efforts to dredge the harbor

Photo Credit: NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program

and increase the depth of the

channel to accommodate in-

creasingly bigger container

ships. With much of the harbor

sediment already contaminated,

a large dredging project could

have serious impacts on habitat

and water quality. Dredging con-

taminated sediment requires

proper treatment and/or disposal

of the material—a complex and

expensive responsibility that no

single entity is equipped to un-

dertake alone.

To determine the origins of con-

tamination and to assess the va-

THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM IN ACTION New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program

The NEP: Implementing the Clean Water Act in ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptive, and Collaborative. EPA-842F09001

riety of actions needed to reduce

inputs, the states and PANYNJ

embarked on a 10-year, $30-mil-

lion-dollar project collecting field

data to develop a state-of-the-

art model to identify areas with

the greatest threat to different

water body uses and set the

groundwork for developing ef-

fective management strategies.

A consortium of agencies and

institutions evaluated contami-

nant levels in water, biota, and

sediments and studied numer-

ous contamination sources, such

as tributaries, legacy sediments,

sewage treatment plants, land-

fills, wastewater, combined sew-

er overflow, and stormwater dis-

charges. In 2007, the group

completed the Assessment

Phase of the Contamination As-

sessment and Reduction Project

(CARP)—considered by many

experts to be the largest and

most advanced effort of its kind.

The team also developed sedi-

ment decontamination process-

es and considered various

options for implementing man-

agement programs. The U.S. En-

vironmental Protection Agency

(EPA) plays an important role, as

two of the largest sources of

sediment contamination to the

harbor are designated Superfund

sites. HEP also facilitates and

supports research, mathemati-

cal modeling, and assessments

to inform regulatory actions tak-

en by the states and the EPA.

HEP’s Toxics Work Group is cur-

rently developing a technical

analysis for attainment of stan-

dards for toxics and any neces-

sary reduction targets. HEP is

using the CARP model to assist

with creating the new TMDL for

toxics, which they plan to finish

in early 2010, along with new

TMDLs for pathogens and nutri-

ents. And since one contaminant

can impact another, HEP is

studying the interrelationships

and impacts of all categories to

help enable states to roll out all

the TMDLs simultaneously. As a

result, treatment plant operators

and others will be able to imple-

ment the necessary load reduc-

tion programs more efficiently

and cost-effectively. Meanwhile,

managers can access the CARP

tool and evaluate different sce-

narios in order to assess their

potential contribution to the

quality of the Harbor Estuary.

Visit www.harborestuary.org

to learn more about this and

other HEP efforts.

EPA’s National Estuary Program

(NEP) is a unique and successful

coastal watershed-based program

established in 1987 under the

Clean Water Act Amendments.

The NEP involves the public and

collaborates with partners to pro-

tect, restore, and maintain the wa-

ter quality and ecological integrity

of 28 estuaries of national signifi-

cance located in 18 coastal states

and Puerto Rico.

For more information about the

NEP go to www.epa.gov/owow/

estuaries.